Are my concerns real or do we have to accept the fact that political leaders are just human beings like the rest of us and are prone to making mistakes, just as we accepted the fact that we live in an imperfect world?

Problem comes in when it is not honest mistakes. When these "mistakes" are clear nepotism, corruption or just plain incompetence. I agree, we need a real leader, until then we will just slowly sink to the bottom.

Did the circumstances change so much that politics became a magnet for sleazy opportunist without any integrity?

Yes. It’s not in a politician’s interests to have fixed or unpopular principles. Politics has become chiefly about winning support, not actually doing anything really positive.

And be careful painting Gandhi as lilywhite. There’s at least as much myth about him as man. Why he is hailed as a hero by many black South Africans can only be explained by their not knowing what he actually fought for.

This being in the Fun sub-forum, it’s hard to say if that is an earnest suggestion, but it would be much like a rule disallowing those who have never practised medicine from criticising CAM.

I understand that correcting someone’s language errors can be annoying because it seems that the properness of the words is taken as more important than the ideas they intend to convey, but aren’t accuracy and correctness in all spheres what scepticism strives towards? Why should written language be exempt?

But, to be honest, I appreciate the Grammar Nazi's in my life and spellchecker. In school, I did quite well in Afrikaans and German, but my English marks were much lower than the marks for the other languages. I think it has something to do with the fact that my dad despised English as the language of the Anti-Christ and the suppressor of the Boerevolk. That notion left an (almost) permanent psychological effect on me which is a challenge to overcome. That is the closest I can get to an explanation.

A bit of irony, My English teacher in Matric was the daughter-in-law of Dr. H.F. Verwoerd. She was a brilliant teacher but alas, I failed to give her any satisfaction.

Please feel free to assist and correct me. After all, as Mefiante said, being sceptical is being correct. Finish en Klaar.

Mefiante, Please send me some links to support your views on the 'not so lily white Gandhi'. I would love to investigate. To me he was a symbol of successful, peaceful resistance in the uttermost extreme.

Notwithstanding its revisionist and anti-liberal agenda, this article succinctly summarises Gandhi’s views mostly by citing his own words. It is carefully referenced. Here is a review of a Gandhi biography that examines many of the man’s less wholesome views in context.

It’s the Afrikaans rule of using the apostrophe to indicate plurals when the noun ends with a vowel. Only the case here in one instance, I realise, but the proper Afrikaans rule is often liberally and enthusiastically flouted even by native speakers of the language. Nor is it helped by such abominations as “CD’s” or “DVD’s” or “Hits of the 80’s” etc., all of which are apostrophial eyesores.

afrikaans is, as far as i remember, the youngest of the world's recognized languages. so in the great scheme of things, it's still a squirmy pink drooling thing. i recon, that grammar rules, and how we decide how plurals are used, is still in an evolutionary phase. as are all languages, whether you like it or not. old oxford dictionary is adding new word every year, like 'de-friend', which had a plethora of old ballies choke on their tea im sure.i remember, when i was studying information technology, you could write your exams in afrikaans, but you would get zero if you used terminology like 'harde skyf' as opposed to 'hard drive'.if someone asked me 'waar is daai dee-vee-dee?' i would propably ignore them.

But, to be honest, I appreciate the Grammar Nazi's in my life and spellchecker.

You mentioned to me that you are selfconscious about your inadequate English and that it inhibits you from posting on the forum. I am pleased that you are not deterred. Good language wins first prize, but rather a somewhat flawed contribution than none. This also applies to many silent members or tempted guests out there.

But, to be honest, I appreciate the Grammar Nazi's in my life and spellchecker.

You mentioned to me that you are selfconscious about your inadequate English and that it inhibits you from posting on the forum. I am pleased that you are not deterred. Good language wins first prize, but rather a somewhat flawed contribution than none. This also applies to many silent members or tempted guests out there.

My English is not too wonderful either, and GCG's (is that apostrophy right or wrong now?) is all too colourful with punctuation all over the place. Not everybody is boffins at everything, but if the message is clear and the content interesting and relevant (in the clever boards) it should'nt be a problem at all to anybody?

I generally dont post in the more serious boards simply because I dont have the ability to express myself clearly in writing and tend to write (talk) in circles without getting to the point I'm desperately want to make.